Veggies Don’t Happen by Accident

Have you ever had a moment of realization at the end of the day that you haven’t eaten anything green (or perhaps even a single serving of vegetables) all day? I have. I know it’s embarrassing, but at the end of some days, I’m left counting garnishes and pizza sauce. Our culture makes it so easy to live a rich life completely lacking nutrition. Think about your go-to dinners.

Bacon, eggs, and toast.

Burger, fries, and a milkshake.

Peanut butter and jelly.

Processed cereals.

Grilled cheese sandwiches.

Chicken Alfredo.

My point is not that these foods are unhealthy (which many of them undoubtedly are); it’s that many of our go-to meals are made up of starches, milk, and meat.

There are no vegetables in them!

With an abundance of convenient and satisfying foods available, you have to make a real conscious effort to include vegetables in your diet, because it will not happen by accident.

So how do you do that?

Think about your daily eating patterns. What could eating more vegetables look like for you?

Maybe you go out for lunch everyday. Could you get a salad? a veggie burger? Maybe you could start by asking for EXTRA veggies on your burger or sandwich (instead of extra meat)? Order your burger with extra lettuce, extra tomato, extra pickle, extra grilled onions!

Do you snack throughout the day? Could you try veggie sticks with a dip? What about a thermos of vegetable soup? Maybe you could make healthier muffins or breads with grated zucchini or carrots in them?

Maybe you’re a meat and potatoes for dinner family? Could you commit to one side of vegetables every night? Maybe you could learn to make one vegetarian meal that your family will enjoy and add it to your dinner rotation?

Could you make a big salad that will last a few days in the fridge and eat a bowl before dinner each night?

Maybe you could use this list to start adding spinach to many of the meals you already make.

Maybe you could make salad the main course once a week. Try one of my favorite spinach salads here.

Maybe instead of meeting your friends for coffee or ice cream, you could meet at a juice bar and try a new vegetable juice.

Set a Green or Veggie Goal

Make it personal. Maybe including one serving of vegetables every day is a big step for you. Maybe you already include several servings of vegetables everyday, but you want to do better or you want to focus on getting your greens everyday. Challenge yourself. Pick something you know you can do (however small), and experiment with it. And if accountability motives you, share your goal with us in the comments below and then come back to tell us how you made out.

Maybe you try something this week, but it’s not going to work for your family or your lifestyle. That’s okay. You can try something different next week.